Last Updated on September 07, 2023
Q&A-LITE Electric Vehicles
This document captures our responses to the common questions asked by Institutions, faculty members, and students towards LITE Electric Vehicle integration.
Q1: What is the selection criteria for students?
For applying to the LITE EV program:
Pupilfirst team will be selecting students based on their application responses. The list of selected students will also be communicated with the institutes.
Q2: Should we, as faculty members, ask students if they are interested in this course(s)?
Yes, it is important for the faculty members and institute to identify students who are interested in the LITE Electric Vehicles programme.
Once an institute has completed the approval process for Open Elective Integration and gets included for admissions in a cohort, we will share the link to the student website with you. You can then circulate the link to all interested/eligible students from your institution and motivate them to make their applications.
Admissions related information will only be shared once an institution completes the approval process for integrating the EV courses and get included in the upcoming cohort of student admissions.
Q3: Does Pupilfirst or the Institute decide the deadline for the courses offered under Open Electives?
The course calendar for each cohort will be prepared by Pupilfirst team based on academic calendar information shared with faculty members of all institutions who are included in the cohort. We will have one common start and end date for a student cohort during which, students from multiple institutions that are part of the cohort, will take the course(s).
The application and courses deadlines will also be communicated to all students as and when required.
Q4: Do you facilitate or offer job opportunities for students, should they opt for the Electric Vehicles courses?
Pupilfirst is an organization that aims to upskill students and make them industry-ready before joining the workforce or becoming entrepreneurs, who may then transform as industry leaders.
We do not commit to offering placements to students who take the Electric Vehicle courses. But we do facilitate internship opportunities for students based on requirements shared by our industry partners as part of the LITE Industry Hiring Network.
We strongly believe that students will land in great opportunities once they attain the industry-desired skills after completing our courses.
Q5: Can additional faculty members be enrolled in FDP for these specializations?
Interested faculty members from your institution can apply for the Faculty Development Programme. We provide FDP at free of cost to select institutes under the LITE initiative.
We will keep all LITE Institutions informed about the launch of FDP cohorts and invite applications from faculty members.
Q6: Can another department, apart from Electronics, host the Open Electives?
It is at the discretion of institutes to decide the department that will host the LITE Electric Vehicles courses as Open Electives, so that all interested students from that respective institution can take the same.
Q7: Can the EV courses be integrated as a Minor degree instead of Open Electives?
Currently, the Model Curriculum for LITE EV Courses have only been approved by AICTE for integration as Open Electives.
Minor Degree integration can be possible in the future as and when more courses are added to the curriculum and prior approvals are given by AICTE.
Q8: What are the next steps after the faculty development programme?
We expect all faculty members who have been onboarded to the EV Courses to complete them, and in parallel facilitate integration of the LITE EV courses as Open Electives so that students from your institute can take them.
Once a student cohort has commenced in the institution, faculty members are required to guide and mentor all students who are taking the EV courses.
Our collective aim should be to ensure that the maximum number of students across all institutions to complete the EV courses and gain opportunities in the EV Industry.
Q9: Are there any deadlines for students and faculty to complete the courses?
Yes, we follow firm deadlines for faculty members to take and complete the EV courses as part of FDP.
We understand the academic and administrative commitments of faculty members, so we will only be fixing the deadline that gives faculty members ample amount of time to complete the course comfortably.
As for students, it is mandatory for them to follow the application and course deadlines as communicated by Pupilfirst.
Q10: How are the courses delivered?
The courses offered under the LITE programme are fully online, and selected students and faculty members can access the course content through the Pupilfirst LMS once they are onboarded.
LITE Faculty members are not required to conduct lectures during the class hours allocated for students for taking the courses offered under the programme. However, they can facilitate student learning during those hours.
In EV 201, students will have to work with a hardware KIT, but it is designed in such a way that they can build their prototype, referring to the course content and instructions specified without any/minimal supervision.
Q11: How can the credits be allocated for open elective courses as part of the LITE EV Curriculum?
The following course structure is part of the LITE Electric Vehicles curriculum approved by AICTE,
Course Structure | ||||||
S.No. | Course Code | Title | L | T | P | Credits |
1 | EV101 | Electric Vehicles 101 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2 | EV201 | Electric Vehicles 201 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
3 | EV TA101 | Electric Vehicle TA 101 Teaching Assistant training for EV 101 and EV 201 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
TOTAL | 0 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
The recommended credits for each course under the curriculum, can be modified by the institute to meet the institute/university regulations as required. Pupilfirst does not involve in credit allocation nor credit issuance aspects.
Q12: How to track the progress of students during the course?
Pupilfirst LMS provides access to faculty members to monitor the progress of students from their institution in real-time using the organisation feature of Pupilfirst LMS.
Once students are onboarded from respective Institutes, LITE faculty members from each institution will be onboarded as Organisation Admins (each Institution is referred to as an organisation) within the Pupilfirst LMS.
This access will enable faculty members to:
Here is a video tutorial that walks you through the steps involved in using the Organisation feature in the Pupilfirst LMS: - https://vimeo.com/845215895?share=copy
Q13: Can the LITE EV Courses be introduced as VAC (Value Added Courses) for students?
Currently, as per the AICTE Approved Model Curriculum in Electric Vehicles, the courses are approved to be taken only as Open Electives by students across institutes in India. Hence, the same cannot be integrated as Value added courses.
Q14: Can you tell us more about how students admissions will be conducted, how will students apply to the program? What will be the next steps for selected students?
As communicated in the EV02Y23 orientation session, an email communication regarding student admissions will be shared with institutions included in the cohort along with all pertinent information and a link to the student website.
The faculty members of the institutions will then need to circulate the admissions related information with all interested students and ask them to apply through the website.
Students will need to submit their applications, which will then be evaluated by the evaluation committee and the selection results will be shared with faculty members for verification.
Once the faculty members have verified the list of students and share the confirmation with Pupilfirst, students will then be onboarded to the EV 101 course on a scholarship basis.
Onboarded students in the EV 101 course will need to progress in the course and complete the course by the deadlines included in the Course Calendar.
Q15: Are there any minimum or maximum enrolment cap for students?
No, all interested and eligible students can apply to the EV 101 course as part of the EV02Y23 cohort.
But please be aware that, student selection will be conducted based on applications received and the top 100 students will only receive scholarships to take the EV 101 course.
Upon successful completion of EV 101 course, students may get an opportunity to take the EV 201 course on a scholarship basis as well.
Q1: Students learn Scilab in their 3rd semester, and will it be good to choose students who have completed their 3rd semester to take the open electives in electric vehicles?
The EV 101 course is designed in such a way that any learner who has an understanding of 12th-grade Physics and Mathematics, will be able to take and complete the course successfully.
For the EV 201 course, completion of EV 101 is the prerequisite.
Q2: What are the hardware/ software requirements for completing the EV101 course?
It is important to have a moderately powerful PC/laptop (Minimum requirements - Pentium IV, 4 GB RAM, 5 GB of hard disk space) for accessing the EV 101 course content and to work with softwares mentioned in the course, for example, Scilab.
Q3: What are the hardware/ software requirements for completing the EV201 course?
EV 201 course requires a custom DIY (Do-it-Yourself) kit for building a working prototype of an EV Powertrain as part of the course. The kit will be supplied to the students through the institute, and Pupilfirst will be taking care of all logistics and expenses involved.
The learners will also require access to a PC/laptop with specifications mentioned in Q2, in order to access the course.
Q4: What is the course duration for EV 101 and EV 201 courses?
The course duration for EV 101 course is 3 weeks and EV 201 is 12 weeks. Both courses will be taken by students in subsequent semesters.
Q5: Scilab is used for simulations in EV 101 course. Can MATLAB be used instead of Scilab?
Scilab is an open-source software, a fairly capable software for performing mathematical simulations. Since this course will be taken by learners across India, a free software makes the course more accessible, whereas MATLAB requires a paid subscription.
It would also be fairly difficult to modify the course content/evaluation based on MATLAB software
However, MATLAB and Scilab are very similar in their applications and Scilab is fairly easy to understand.
Q6: How can the LITE Electric Vehicles online courses help handle hardware experiments?
We expect students to understand the basics by building a miniature prototype of an EV Powertrain as part of EV 201. The experiments can be performed unsupervised with thorough understanding of the basics, thus, eliminating safety hazards.
Students will be getting the DIY-kit along with components for them to build the motor, free of cost from Pupilfirst. Once they build the motor, students will go through the course instructions, learn through the videos, run experiments and build the motor controller to control the motor.
Q7: Industry uses 3 KW or 4 KW motors usually, can students who complete the EV 201 course become efficient enough to handle it?
EV Components such as batteries can cause safety problems for beginners if they are working without supervision. Hence, the course is oriented towards understanding the basics by building a miniature prototype of an EV Powertrain, thus eliminating safety hazards.
Once the students understand the basics, they will be able to work on industry level components and HV systems with minimal/no supervision.
Q8: What are the basics required for the students to understand this course as an ECE student?
Students who are taking EV 101 are expected to have basic knowledge of 12th grade Physics and Mathematics. They will also require a moderately powerful computer to access the course content and perform simulations in Scilab.
Students will also be introduced with the basics for using Scilab for simulations, as part of the EV 101 course.
Q9: How are the evaluations carried out for the EV courses?
EV courses follow continuous evaluation. The EV 101 course contains both targets which are automatically evaluated and well manually reviewed by Coaches/TAs. Resubmissions will be allowed for all submissions in the except the Capstone Project - Part 2, which is the final submission for the course.
The course will also contain a final Capstone submission, which will be graded equivalent to an end semester examination. The submissions will be evaluated by Pupilfirst and the graded will be shared with the Institute.
Q1: Why does a target in course appear as ‘locked’?
It could be one of two reasons. You either haven’t reached the level, or you have incomplete prerequisites in the same level. First, check the Report tab to confirm whether you’ve reached the level that the target is in. Check which level has incomplete targets (shown in orange colour), go back to them and complete them and level up. If you’ve reached the level, open the target, and go through the linked prerequisites, and make sure you complete them before revisiting that target.
Q2: There are different levels in each course, EV 101 has 5 levels and EV 201 has 11 Levels. Please specify the significance of levels.
The LITE EV courses are organized in levels. A level is a collection of related concepts and assignments. The significance of a level is that it also acts as a marker of progression in the course.
Once students reach the higher levels, it indicates that they have learned the concepts covered in the earlier levels. Hence, the course progression is gradual, with students starting at Level 1 and progressing by completing the lessons and assignments, and then moving up to the subsequent levels until they reach the last level. Once they complete the assignment in the last level and the Capstone project, they complete the course.
Q3: What does it mean for a course to be complete?
An EV course is referred to as complete if the student completes (passes) all the milestone targets within levels in the course and the final Capstone project as well. In case any milestone target is not completed by students (or rejected post the submission being reviewed) by the course completion deadline, then the course completion status will be marked incomplete.
Teaching Assistantship
Q1: What is the stipend amount that you pay students once they are onboarded as TAs?
Students who get onboarded as Teaching Assistants are offered a monthly stipend of Rs.5,000-10,000 during the engagement based on the responsibilities assigned to them. The stipend is given based on satisfactory performance of the student as a TA. Stipends are only offered to domestic students and not international students, in accordance with the current labor laws issued by the Government of India.
Q2: Is the TA certificate also jointly issued by Pupilfirst and AICTE?
No, the certificate of contribution awarded to Teaching Assistants is issued only by Pupilfirst.
Currently, AICTE has approved credits for LITE Teaching Assistants as part of our EV model curriculum (refer page: 19).
We will inform your institution, should AICTE publish any new guidelines for issuing certificates to Teaching Assistants.